If you've got nothing to hide, what's the problem?

Thursday

Apr 18, 2013 at 11:49 AM

David Farr

Washington should be ashamed. The U.S. Senate defeated legislation that would expand background checks for gun buyers. The measure was only six votes away from passing. Sixty votes are needed for passage.

The bill was drawn up by Pennsylvania Republican Pat Tooney and West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin. The bipartisan effort would have extended background check rules to online gun sales and at gun shows — in other words, it was a reasonable compromise.

Among the vote tallies, four Republican senators voted in favor of the expanded checks and four Democrats voted against it. But it was the American people who lost. Nowhere in this legislation did it say a person would not be able to own a gun. Second Amendment rights were not in jeopardy.

It sickens me to think that the will of 90 percent of the country was not met by it’s senators who represent them. That’s 9 out every 10 people, and yet, it was still defeated. How can this be?

The four Democrats who voted against the measure cracked under the pressure from Republican constituents to not vote for the bill. Um, really? You’re going to let a few ridiculous gun owners who misconstrued the truth keep you from doing the right thing?

This is upsetting to me. I do not understand the logic for not wanting to see such legislation become law, especially knowing that parents of the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary looked on as it was defeated. My heart broke for them a second time when the bill failed.

What is so wrong about a background check? If you’ve got nothing to hide, what gives?

I’m not surprised it was defeated; the NRA did its best to twist the real intent of the bill. My thoughts are that it may have gone down for the time being, but it’s far from over. I don’t see the movement going away any time soon, nor should it.